49. 



Corals restricted to soft substrates are: the pennatulid 

 Pennatula aauleata^ found in the shallow axis and on the west 

 wall; Kophobelemnon stelliferum in the axis and on the east 

 wall; and a small unidentified seapen on the east wall and 

 flank. The coral populations on the two flanks of the canyon 

 are quite sparse and reflect the relative scarcity of large 

 hard substrates in these areas. 



Of the three canyons surveyed Oceanographer Canyon has 

 the greatest abundance of corals, with large populations on 

 the walls and flanks as well as in the axis (Fig. 24) . The 

 corals plotted on this map include those found during the his- 

 torical survey. Again, this reflects the control that avail- 

 ability of suitable substrate has on determining the distribution 

 of these corals. Numerous areas of hard substrate in the form 

 of outcrops, talus and glacial erratics are found throughout 

 this canyon rather than being mostly restricted to the axis. 

 Again two of the most common corals are the gorgonians 

 Paramuvioea grandis and Aaanthogorgia armata both of which 

 occur throughout the canyon. Minor differences in the 

 distribution can be noted. A. armata dominates the corals on 

 the west flank and on the shallow part of the east flank, 

 while P. grandis dominates deeper on the east flank and within 

 the axis. This reflects apparent differences in the substrate 

 requirements of these two species. A, armata is most common 

 on smaller cobbles and boulders, while P. grandis is usually 



